Fickle girl

Sometimes I complete a project and think: this is it. This will be my favorite project that I ever do. From now on. I will never make anything I love as much as this.


Then a few weeks go by. Or a month.


All that time, I'm creating new things. But nothing I love as much as "the one." It sits on my shelf. I give it adoring glances as I walk by.


But then it happens. I make something, and all of a sudden, "the one" becomes a little less perfect. Because I've fallen in love with my latest creation.


Does that make me fickle?


I created this mini album as a fundraiser class for my daughters' school. And for about a month, it was "the one."

I love the red, black and cream color combo. I love that it combines all different kinds of textures -- paper, transparent overlays, ribbon, canvas, lace -- just like a family combines all types of personalities. (ooooh, that's a deep thought)

I love that it has all my favorite family photos, converted to black and white.

I love that I tried new things -- like stamping on a glassine bag and die-cutting overlays.

 I love that I found a perfect use for the awesome red washi tape I've been hoarding.

And I love that it will raise money for a cause that's really near and dear to my heart -- my girls' beautiful school in Old East Dallas.


The class will be January 26 at my home, so the spots are extremely limited. However, if you're interested in making this album and enjoying some girl time on a Thursday evening (and you're in the Dallas area), drop me an email. The class is $30 and the entire amount goes to support a great neighborhood school. (If you're not in the Dallas area, I'll be selling any remaining kits after the class in January.)


But you know what's coming, right? Yes, as much as I love this little book, I've moved on. There's a new project that's captured my heart.

I'll be sharing it on Thursday...

(how's that for a tease?)

Blessed

I have loved reading everyone's Facebook posts this month about what they are thankful for. I wish I'd been more on the ball and posted one of my own each day, but there's always next year, right?

With or without Facebook, the month of November always gets me thinking about the many ways we are blessed. It's overwhelming, really. I could probably write a book with all the big (and little) things in our life that I am grateful for. Hmmm...now there's an idea.

But back to the subject at hand...

I created this layout for an Imaginisce assignment about Thanksgiving. So many ways to go on this one, but I decided to focus on the relationship between my girls. Because watching them together, I can't help but feel blessed that I have them in my life. They teach me so much about myself and the person I want to be. And they inspire me every single day.

The other reason behind this assignment is the release of the new and improved iTop tool. If you've ever used the iTop, you know how addicting it can be. But you also know that the old tool had a bit of a learning curve. Getting the brads to shape just right was tricky. You'll be happy to know that Imaginisce has fixed this with the new tool. Not only is it lighter weight and easier to hold, the rubber heads that form the brads are much stronger and better at shaping the paper, fabric or whatever else you're using to cover the brad. Even the small brads that used to give me fits are a breeze with the new tool.

One of the things I've always loved about the iTop is that you can add texture to your layouts by covering brads with fabric or other materials. I used a scrap of Heather Bailey fabric and some bleached burlap to cover some small brad daddies and they became the tops of the banner. 

 Using brads makes it easy to wrap twine around each one to connect the pieces of the banner.

If the new iTop is on your holiday wish list, check out the deal at Oh My Crafts on the iTop Bundle. It's a great deal on a tool you will reach for over and over!

And now I'm off to pack for our Thanksgiving trek to the lake cabin. Many blessings to you and your family this week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Take two

I try not to use the same photo on more than one layout. While some of my favorite photos do end up getting repeated in mini books and altered projects, it's very rare that I will use the exact same photo on two separate layouts. I made an exception for this one.

Why? First, because I love the photo. It so perfectly captures Cecily -- how her mood can change in the blink of an eye and you can sense it immediately by the expression on her face. And second, because I felt that the layout I did with this photo a few months ago really didn't do it justice. It didn't say anything about me as the maker or her as the subject.

This is the layout I wanted to do. Everything about it, from the color combinations to the slightly messy style, feels right to me.

Supplies: Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio Round 14; Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio Round 25; Epiphany Crafts Vintage Settings – Tea Room; Epiphany Crafts Vintage Settings - Cabana; Epiphany Crafts Star Flowers - Mint; Tattered Angels Chalkboard Mist – Inchworm; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist – Pearl; Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam – Bordeaux; Pink Paislee patterned paper, ephemera, journaling spot, twine and wood letters; Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type stickers; American Crafts journaling pen

Yeah, I love this one.

Chasing butterflies

There's a new sketch challenge on the Pretty Little Studio blog this week. All you have to do is create a layout based on their sketch by next Monday and link it up to the Pretty Little Studio blog post.

Here's the layout I created:

I discovered that this wavy line paper makes a great journaling block. I added Half Circle Number Tags as my bullet points.

Hope you'll play along for your chance to win a $5 coupon to the Pretty Little Studio store!

Outside the box

Are you an "outside the box" kind of person? If so, you should check out the challenge on the Imaginisce blog today: create a shaped layout.

I have to admit that I struggled with this one a bit. When it comes to layouts, 12x12 is my comfort zone. So coming up with a shape that wasn't a square or rectangle or circle was a little daunting. I kicked around several ideas, but here's where I ended up:

As I started pulling supplies, I came to the Bon Voyage collection, and I immediately thought of a suitcase. Not the new, modern hardsided roller bag. I'm talkin' about the old-school, worn leather box with the handle that's just a little smaller than your hand.


The shape is really pretty simple: a 9 1/2" x 12" rectangle with rounded corners and a smaller 4" rectangle with rounded corners (and the center trimmed out) for the handle. Then add the two strips of paper for the straps and build the layout from there.

I added some inking around the edges because a good suitcase always shows signs of the places it's been. And I finished it off with some luggage tag embellishments and a bit of twine on the handle.

By the way, if you're interested in trying out for the 2012 Imaginisce Design Team, the call is open now. It's a wonderful team to be a part of, and I've thoroughly enjoyed working with the talented women on the team for the past two years. I've decided to let my spot go this year, but I know that it will continue to be an amazing team and I'll definitely be an Imaginisce fan for life. Good luck to all who apply!

Traditions

It's nice to see that I still have some blog followers after my little hiatus. Thanks for sticking around!
 
So in a few short weeks, Thanksgiving will be here. And for us, that means a trip north to our lake cabin. (Or as Avery calls it, "The Cabinet.") My in-laws come and stay there with us, and my Dad and stepmom live on the adjoining lot, so it's the one time of year that almost every member of our family -- both my side and Adam's side -- are all together in the same house.

I think this year will be our sixth Thanksgiving at the cabin, and that's significant because, for both of my kids (ages 7 and 5), every Thanksgiving they can remember was spent there.

Of course, there are other traditions that happen during our annual trip to the cabin -- traditions within the tradition -- and I finally got around to documenting one of them.

I used patterned paper and garland flags from the Apple Cider collection from Pretty Little Studio to add some color. (The only downside of visiting the cabin so late in the year is that we miss the leaves changing color. But on the upside, it also means it's usually cool enough to build a fire in the woodburning stove!)

Have you noticed that I use bakers twine on everything lately? I'm in love with the stuff. I can't help it.

Timeless

It seems only fitting that my first post (after taking a considerable break from blogging) would relate to time. But I've been thinking a lot about it lately. My girls are growing so fast. A few days soon turns into a month and, before you know it, the holidays are approaching and the year will soon be over. I think that's what keeps me taking the photos and creating more pages for the scrapbook -- because I know that every moment is soon replaced by another and another.

A few weeks ago, the girls had an early release day. It was a beautiful day, and I needed photos for the holiday cards, so we headed over to the lake. The light was so warm and perfect, and I took some of the best photos I've ever taken.

Some of them went into this layout for Epiphany Crafts, which spotlights the Shape Studio Round 25 tool:

Supplies: patterned paper, chipboard elements and spool buttons (Pink Paislee), alphabet stickers (October Afternoon), chipboard letters (American Crafts), sheer doilie (Maya Road), Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio Round 25 tool and epoxies

I'm sure some of these same photos will be making it into this next project. It's a class I created for Scrapville using the Bo Bunny Et Cetera collection.

Last year, I created a "Favorite Moments of 2010" mini, and I love looking back at it. I'm not sure which photos will make it into this year's version just yet, but at least the book is done -- and hopefully, it will inspire others to start their own "favorite moments" books.

A couple more peeks:

The class will be December 3 at Scrapville, so give Kerry a call if you want to sign up!